Posted on

Leap of faith

In an interesting turn of events, I’ve purchased something on faith rather than doing any proper research on it. Actually I didn’t really have a choice since the product’s “nature” to this day is hidden in total secrecy.

One of Neil Diamond’s guitarists Hadley (aka “Radley”) Hockensmith is selling units of his invention called the “Harmonic Converger.” It is a passive device that among other things, eliminates the “fizz” commonly present in digital modelers.

The official information page of the Harmonic Converger (which from this point on I will refer to as “HC”) can be found here

So I’ve purchased one – and thanks to Mara, I’ll [hopefully] be getting it at the end of May.

I’ve also taken the liberty of taking some select audio clips from the internet showcasing what the HC can do. Most (if not all) taken from a really old “HC Test Drive” page created by Radley and a couple of HC users down at Boss GT Central

Obviously the pedalboard being used was a Boss multi-effects processor – specifically, a GT8 like mine if I’m not mistaken. Read More

Posted on

AlphaTrack

So I finally got the AlphaTrack after all this time. Actually I already had the unit since Pia came back – however, the unit had outdated firmware. And for some strange reason, Frontier didn’t have software available to download that can upgrade it.

Yet, as mind-boggling as the decision not to have such software seems; Mr. Brian George, the head of the AlphaTrack development, was kind enough to take the time to find a way to send me a new updated unit as a replacement.

Today, I just spent 3 hours in the post-office/customs to get my replacement unit of the AlphaTrack. I just have to say that I hate Philippine customs.

They are, quite frankly a bunch of bloody thieves. They really find ways to swindle you out of your money and not give you a choice about it. You’re literally at their mercy, and it pisses the hell out of me that you can’t get these motherfuckers fired for their unreasonable actions. Read More

Posted on

On Nickelback and “musical fraud”

I may be one of the few people that are alone in this (is that sentence even right?) – but I just have to comment on a recent “phenomenon” that has been making waves on the internet about the credibility of Nickelback.

For those of you who don’t know, Nickelback has recently been attacked, accused of “recycling music” – hence are “ripping-off” the fans by feeding them with material that has already been used.

Before I even go any further in my commentary, I suggest you listen to the NPR article about it.

Read More
Posted on

What a Wonderful World (a cappella)

I now have my first “cover” song in the music section! It’s an arrangement by GP which I believe he based on Guy Sebastian’s interpretation of the song.

I was literally suckered into recording this – as I don’t know why he actually needed it recorded. But since it was a “genre” that I’ve never really tried recording, it’s all good.

At first he sent the piece and the MIDI of the voices… which I thought I was just going to use as a basis for the main vocal line. Once I was done with that, I sent it to him and the next message I got was:

“Ok, now for the rest of the voices.”

Sneaky little bastard hahahaha!

The original recording had 4 measures more at the intro – which I cut out since it tended to take too long before the verse started.

Another trivia for this is that since I’m a tenor, I can only go so low – so I needed some help on the really low notes. Notes such as those found in the time markers 0:11, 0:34, 0:57, etc. were sung with an aid of a synth (or sometimes a synth only).

No need to post lyrics for this since it’s a pretty well-known song (you can always google it)

Posted on

Your Majesty

This one’s for Arjay (as per his comment on one of the previous posts) hehehe.

Reprise of my old song “Your Majesty” with the following changes:

  1. Re-recorded the guitar part with my Taylor T5 – used percussive playing (slapping the guitar) for rhythmic effect.
  2. Added bass track via Reason
  3. Added electric guitar parts
  4. Added ambient pad via Rapture
  5. Re-done the vocal track with some lyric changes

You can compare it to the old one below:

Read More